Damage and Failure of

Composite Materials

Damage and Failure of Composite Materials

Dam

age and Failure of Composite M

aterials

Ramesh Talreja and Chandra Veer Singh

Understanding damage and failure of composite materials is critical for reliable

and cost-effective engineering design. Bringing together materials mechanics and

modeling, this book provides a complete guide to damage, fatigue, and failure of

composite materials. Early chapters focus on the underlying principles governing

composite damage, reviewing basic equations and mechanics theory, before describing

mechanisms of damage such as cracking, breakage, and buckling. In subsequent

chapters, the physical mechanisms underlying the formation and progression of

damage under mechanical loads are described with ample experimental data, and

micro- and macro-level damage models are combined. Finally, fatigue of composite

materials is discussed using fatigue-life diagrams. While there is a special emphasis on

polymer matrix composites, metal and ceramic matrix composites are also described.

Outlining methods for more reliable design of composite structures, this is a valuable

resource for engineers and materials scientists in industry and academia.

R amesh TalReja is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University.

He earned his Ph.D. and Doctor of Technical Sciences degrees from the Technical

University of Denmark. He has contributed extensively to the fields of damage, fatigue,

and failure of composite materials by authoring numerous books and book chapters as

well as by editing several encyclopedic works.

ChandR a VeeR singh is an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and

Engineering at University of Toronto. He earned his Ph.D. degree in aerospace

engineering from Texas A&M University, and worked as a post-doctoral Fellow

at Cornell University. His research expertise is in damage mechanics of composite

materials, atomistic modeling, and computational materials science. His industry

experience includes R&D at GE Aircraft Engines.

Cover illustration: an artist’s impression shows advanced

concepts NASA envisions for an aircraft of the future © NASA.

C O V e R d e s i g n e d B Y R O B l O C K

Talreja and Veer Singh